As many regular visitors to cape cod
will attest, something transformative happens at the Sagamore Bridge. On the other side of the Cape Cod Canal, the light is
more luminous, the air feels fresher, and
summer heat dissipates with ocean breezes. The tediousness of life in city or suburb falls away.
This is a place apart, a place where, faced with the sea,
Henry David Thoreau observed: “A man may stand there
and put all America behind him.”

That was exactly what a pair of homeowners had in
mind when they commissioned interior designers Jon
Hattaway and Martin Potter of M.J Berries Design, and
architects Burton S. and Long X. Visnick of Caulfield &
Visnick Associates to design a summer house on a waterfront lot, where for many years the couple had shared a
duplex with the husband’s brother and his family. As the
two families grew, they both wanted more space, so when
the brother bought a house nearby, the couple decided

the foyer (above) extends a
playful greeting with large
metal fish swimming across
the wall above a table
assembled from three pieces
of industrial salvage. The
antique factory worker chairs
have compartments in the
base where laborers could
store belongings. The outdoor
dining room (left) has a water
view and retractable shades
made from striped awning
fabric. The sideboard in the
living room (facing page) is
an old store counter.